Blogs from Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 19

Hi all, Not alble to do a proper entry as I'm at an internet cafe here but I just wanted to inform those who care (parents etc...!) that I'm alive and well. Four nights and five days on the train has drained me but the trip was out of this world... snow and snow and snow... endless journey. Anyhow, I'm in Irkutsk where it is a balmy -14C. I am heading to Lake Baikal tomorrow which holds 20% of the world's fresh water... just in case you were wondering. Snowmobiling and then off to Mongolia. Will post proper blog soon. Best always, J.... read more

(Quick note...this was posted from a computer in China and the text format gets a bit funny) We did have a few days off the train in Siberia. First we had three days and two nighs at Listyvanka, a small village in a Russian national park on Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is famous for holding 20 percent of the worlds fresh water and it boasts a huge variety of marine life which is not found elsewhere in the world, including a freshwater seal. The omul fish is eaten by the locals and not exported outside the area, or at least Russia. We toured the musuem and the village with our local guide, Ella. We were the guests of Olga and Victor, staying in their cozy izba. A typical Siberial izba is basically a giant stove/chimney which ... read more

Peeking out of the train window as the sun came up this morning we were greeted with a beautiful surprise. We were entering a real life winter-wonderland. Snow and ice blanketed the entire countryside. The half-frozen rivers we passed we steaming in the cold winter air and the small wooden houses outside all had little chimneys billowing with white smoke. It looked like a scene from a fairy tale. As the sun appeared in a hazy shade of pink, we could see people walking along the train lines bundled in big wool coats with giant fur hats. Welcome to Russia!! The train ride from Ulaanbataar seemed much longer than the 36 hours it was. I came back from the Gobi with a very bad cold which made sitting in a small train compartment with three other ... read more

The adventure is well under way: I have reached the famed Irkoutsk, the mystical town one always reads about in stories of goulags and exile, the heart of Siberia, the bear country, the harshest place one can think off, buried under meters of snow and thrown about by hurling winds, the place where only the fittest and strongest survive, most die of excess vodka. Well it is isn't true, the people are pleasant, the girls slim and good looking, the sun is shining and life is enjoyable. I recently got off the trans-Siberian and am enjoying the sun and easy going provincial atmosphere of the town. It is small but not without its charm, there are still a lot of old wooden houses build by the families of the Decembrists, when they were exiled here. Irkoutsk ... read more

Lep pozdrav vsem skupaj! Prisla sva v Irkutsk. 5500 km in tri dni voznje je hitro minilo. Z Moskvo sva koncala. Bilo je se zelo zanimivo. Oni dan, ko sem pisal, sem bil v enem internet kafeju na univerzi. Potem sva sla se malo naokoli in iskala stolp, od koder bi se lahko videlo Moskvo (tako nama je Vika rekla). Na, pa greva do dalec najvisje in najmogocnejse stavbe na hribu in hoceva noter. Ven pride en student, Slava po imenu, pa ga pobaram, ce se da gor it. On rece da ne, ker je to fax, ampak da bo poskusil on uredit. Prvi poskus ni uspel, ko smo se hoteli pretihotapit v studentski dom z njegovo izkaznico. Sta bila pri vratih dva pol cloveka, pol medveda, tako da smo sli raje nazaj. Tam smo dali ... read more